Green Hotels Earn More, Study Finds

ITHACA, N.Y. — A Cornell University School of Hotel Administration study found hotels that are LEED certified not only help the environment, but also earn more revenue.

The study compared 93 LEED certified hotels in the U.S. with the same amount of non-certified hotels, and found that average daily rates and revenue per available room was substantially higher.

"The hotel industry has embraced environmental sustainability, and several hotels have registered for or earned ‘green’ certification under the LEED program," said Rohit Verma, professor at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, in a statement. "The question was whether there is also a revenue benefit from LEED. We found that the answer is, absolutely yes."



How can a hotel become greener? The Green Hotels Association points to several measures. First, water-saving equipment and techniques, such as low-flow showerheads, serving water only on request in restaurants, low-flow toilets, waterless urinals and other efforts to conserve water can save as much as two million gallons a year.

At the New Orleans Intercontinental, a recycling program that had employees sorting through trash was pulling $1,000 a month worth of hotel property out of the waste system. The association advises hotel managers to ask vendors to deliver products in minimal wrapping and also to deliver products one day and pick up the packaging materials the next day.

In April, TripAdvisor, a top hotel-booking website, released its list for the top 10 highest-rated green hotels in the U.S, according to a survey of more than 2,100 U.S. respondents:

1. Bardessono – Yountville, Calif.
2. Allison Inn & Spa – Newberg, Ore.
3. Hilton Garden Inn Fayetteville/Fort Bragg – Fayetteville, N.C.
4. Sleep Inn & Suites – Miles City, Mont.
5. Montage Deer Valley – Park City, Utah
6. Cedar Glen Lodge – Lake Tahoe, Calif.
7. Aria Sky Suites – Las Vegas
8. The Lenox Hotel – Boston
9. Hampton Inn & Suites Miami/Brickell-Downtown – Miami
10. Holiday Inn Express Inverness – Lecanto, Fla.